1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for filtering solid impurities carried by a liquid. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for removing various sized debris from the machine oil of a piece of machinery. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for cooling the machine oil while removing the debris therefrom.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Machinery which has moving parts or cutting tools requires a lubricant to protect against damage and lengthen the useful life of components, e.g., moving parts or cutting tools. However, continuous usage of the machinery causes wear of the moving parts and cutting tools, which causes debris particles to become suspended within the lubricant. As more debris becomes suspended within the lubricant, continued use of the lubricant may actually cause more damage to the machinery than it can prevent. It is necessary, therefore, to filter the lubricant for continued usage or to completely change the lubricant periodically. Obviously, complete replacement of the lubricant is preferable because all debris is removed from the machinery. However, complete periodic or scheduled replacement is an extremely costly program to implement, and oftentimes the benefits are not significant enough to justify the costs.
Recycling the lubricant through periodic filtering, therefore, is a highly cost effective approach for maintaining the useful life of machinery and various machine parts.
The operating temperature of the machinery and the lubricating oil is typically high which can cause thermal breakdown of the oil. Once thermal breakdown of the oil occurs, the oil can no longer function as an effective lubricant. Therefore, cooling of the oil during the filtration process will help to extend the useful life of the oil.
Various filtering devices for removing solid matter suspended in a liquid are well known in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,290,820 issued to H. Ten Winkel. on Jan. 7, 1919, describes a device for removing impurities from oil and water, and separating the oil from the water. The device comprises three distinct separating chambers that utilize different filter arrangements to accomplish the desired effect. In one of the separating chambers, the liquid follows a tortuous path which carries it into an internal compartment from the bottom thereof, and upwardly through three screens where it overflows into an outlet pipe that may carry the liquid to a final separating chamber. The final separating chamber requires the tortuous passage of water, forced under the manometric pressure of incoming liquid, to flow through a bottom opening into a series of annular compartments which lead to a pure water discharge tube. The density differences between oil and water allow the water to enter the bottom opening and flow out the discharge tube while the oil floats upwards away from the bottom opening. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow for the purpose of causing suspended debris to settle, nor is any suggestion made for using the liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,444 issued to George E. McFarland on Nov. 3, 1992, describes an apparatus mounted on a cart and used for filtering food debris from cooking oil. The apparatus uses a closed system that is pressurized by a pump to force cooking oil through a plurality of lines and filter assemblies. Each filter assembly includes an outer fluid chamber located between a sleeve and a filter within the sleeve, and an inner passageway internal to the filter. Fluid is forced into the outer chamber and through the filter to the inner chamber, where it is forced into another filter or returned to a cooker for use. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid. Additionally, the apparatus described is a closed system which requires the use of a pump to force the liquid through the system and also requires significant bleeding operation, which makes the apparatus labor intensive to operate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,634 issued to Henry E. Orensten and Vivian C. Orensten on May 18, 1976, describes various filtering elements within a closed system, pump-fed aquarium filter. The aquarium filter comprises a plurality of chambers with a cylindrical filtering element in each chamber. Fluid enters each chamber through an inlet at one end, where it passes through the filtering element and into a passageway internal to the element which communicates with an outlet at the other end of the chamber. Fluid is forced through a first filtering element, and then the fluid flow is divided into parallel flow through one of two additional filtering elements, i.e., a fine filtering element, a chemical filtering element, or a biologically active filtering element. The flow of fluid through the aquarium filter causes tortuous movement of the water through the series-parallel arrangement of filtering elements. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid. Nor is any suggestion made for mounting this device atop a transportable cart to afford the apparatus maneuverability within the limited space typical of many machinery environments, so that it could be positioned to address a machine on a periodic basis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,485 which issued to Dominic S. Arbisi and Thomas A. Rasmussen on Apr. 27, 1987, describes a method and apparatus for aerating flowing water. The apparatus includes a plurality of serially arranged chambers which contain baffles open along their bottom edge to create tortuous water flow within each chamber, i.e., vertically downward and upward. Separating each chamber are partitions which are arranged to allow water to cascade down to the adjacent downstream chamber. The gravity fed apparatus is an open system which provides for cascading movement of the fluid, and nozzles which introduce air to the vertically downward flow of water within each chamber to cause the desired aeration. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow for the purpose of causing suspended debris to settle, nor is any suggestion made for using the liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,908,329 issued to Sidney R. Dunham on May 9, 1933, describes a filtering device for use in closed system. The filtering device utilizes a number of filtering screens aligned in series, whereby debris is stopped by the filtering screens. Each filter screen is provided within an opening to allow liquid flow to continue even when a filtering screen becomes clogged. The openings of adjacent filtering screens are offset so as to cause tortuous fluid travel through the filtering device, which allows debris to settle despite clogging of the screens. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid. Nor is there any suggestion made for mounting this device atop a transportable cart to provide maneuverability to the apparatus within the limited space typical of many machinery environments, so that it may be positioned to service a machine on a periodic basis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,753 issued to Ransen Gardenier, Jr., on Nov. 29, 1994, describes an antifreeze reclamation apparatus and a process for reclaiming antifreeze. The apparatus utilizes a gravity fed system with an inlet elevated above the outlet, whereby introduction of additional liquid forces cleaned liquid from the outlet. The process depends upon sedimentation to remove suspended debris and filtration by anionic and cationic resins, at the outlet or within the chamber, to remove dissolved minerals and metals.. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid. Nor is there any suggestion made for mounting this device atop a transportable cart to afford the apparatus maneuverability within the limited space typical of many machinery environments so that it may be positioned to address a machine on a periodic basis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,388 issued to Koji Morioka et al. on Apr. 4, 1989, describes a device for collecting and separating paint waste floating in cleaning water for a paint spraying booth and circulating the refined cleaning water. The device includes a series of tanks that are separated by weirs which causes a bubbling effect that allows the paint waste to float and flow over the weirs and into the next lower tank. The waste paint is then collected and the refined cleaning water is then circulated to be reused as cleaning water. No suggestion is made for using the abovedescribed liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,317 issued to Hiroshi Ishida et al. on Sep. 19, 1995, describes a solid-liquid separator for sludge which includes a pair of pumps disposed in a tank for establishing a horizontal flow therein through a plurality of stages of sequentially arranged submerged filter systems. Solid material is separated from the liquid medium as the material flows horizontally through the faces of the individual filter membranes. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid. Nor is there any suggestion made for mounting this device on a transportable cart to afford the apparatus maneuverability within the limited space typical of many machinery environments so that it may be positioned to service a machine on a periodic basis.
Soviet Union Patent Application Number 1,733,045 (A1) published on May 15, 1992, describes a suspended particle collector which includes a tank-pit having first and second purification stages. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid.
Japanese Patent Application Number 4-180,802 (A), published on Jun. 29, 1992, describes an oil and water separation device which includes a series of separation tanks each containing a filter and each being separated by a partition wall. No suggestion is made for using the above-described liquid flow to cause cooling of the liquid.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.